Paul McAuliffe
Question:253. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps being taken to tackle youth unemployment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48640/21]
View answerThursday, 7 October 2021
Questions (253)
Written answers
Latest estimates from the CSO indicate that the unemployment rate for young people is 17 percent using the traditional measure rising to just under 20 per cent when we use the CSO’s COVID-19 adjusted measure for the month of September. This COVID-19 Adjusted measure, which includes all those in receipt of PUP, has fallen by 6 percentage points from almost 26 percent in August and by over 41 percentage points since its 2021 peak of 61 percent in January.
The reduction in the COVID-19 adjusted measure of youth unemployment seen in September is driven by the fact that students on PUP are no longer included in the estimate, as they are no longer eligible for the payment since last month. Full-time students are not traditionally included in unemployment estimates as they are not considered part of the labour force as they are generally not available for full time employment.
Thanks to the continued reopening of our economy and society, the number of young people on PUP has declined significantly, falling by 91% since the 2021 peak in February to just under 10,400 this week. I expect to see further reductions in these PUP numbers, as the final set of public health restrictions are eased later this month.
To minimise any scarring effects amongst young people who permanently lost their jobs due to the pandemic, my Department has introduced a series of targeted measures under the Pathways to Work strategy, including:
- Expanding the JobsPlus scheme to 8,000 places and enhancing the incentive to recruit young jobseekers in particular, by increasing the youth age limit from 25 to 30 years.
- The newly launched Work Placement Experience Programme, which is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme, for persons out of work for six months or more and has 4,000 places ring-fenced for young people.
- Ring-fencing at least 1,000 out of the 3,000 additional Community Employment and Tús places for long term unemployed young people.
- Ring-fencing at least 1,000 out of the 3,000 additional Community Employment and Tús places for long term unemployed young people.
My Department also works closely with the Further Education and Training sector to provide access to training, upskilling and reskilling opportunities that are of particular relevance to young people entering the labour market for the first time. As part of Pathways to Work 2021-2025, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are providing an additional 50,000 further education and training places to help more people, including young persons, to have the opportunity to upskill and reskill. In addition, the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme has been extended until the end of December 2021. This scheme provides financial supports for employers who register apprentices to a national apprenticeship scheme.
Using these measures, Pathways to Work 2021-2025 aims to reduce the youth unemployment rate back to or below the 2019 average of 12.5% by 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.